Just Breathe
by Unknown Ghost
Summary: Maria was adopted by an Italian family that's anything but ordinary.  Wanting her to have a normal life they send her to college where she becomes friends with Melissa. After graduation she visits her friend and discovers the world of imprinting. Paul/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: SM owns everything you recognize. I only own my OCs (and there's going to be a lot of them).**

**Melissa's POV**

"Seth, I love you and all, but you need to get out of my way." I was getting frustrated. "Seriously, do you have to hover in the kitchen when I'm trying to make dinner?"

"I'm sorry." He said kissing my neck.

I sighed, "Seth, she's going to be here any minute and I have a ton more to do."

"Isn't she always an hour late?"

"Yes, but that's why I told her dinner was at 6 and now it's almost 7 and-" He stopped my rambling with a kiss.

"Seth." I breathed.

"Ok, ok I'll leave you be." Emily walked into the kitchen.

"Need any help?" She asked.

"Em, you always cook for us, it's my turn to cook for you." She shook her head.

"It's no problem. I love to cook." Half her face turned up in a smile.

"I'll help too." Kim said.

"You sure?" They both nodded their head in agreement. "Okay then, Emily could you please set the table and Kim could you put the rolls in the oven." They both went to man their stations. I took a deep breath. _It's ok Melissa, you've got this. _I smiled and went back to chopping the cucumbers for the salad.

**Maria's POV**

"Will you hurry your ass up?" I asked Cristiano impatiently. I was starting to feel claustrophobic now that everyone had stood up grabbing their luggage from the overhead compartments.

"Why? We can't get out of our row even if we tried. Besides it's not my friend that we're visiting."

"Well no shit. You don't have any friends."

"Haha. Good one sis." He said giving my shoulder a slight shove. There was finally a break in the crowd of people, letting us sneak our way into the walkway. He easily grabbed our luggage from overhead, handing me my two carry-on bags.

"I don't understand why you packed so much; we're only going to be here for two days."

"Because I don't know what I want to wear for those two days." I said.

"Do you decided to pack half your closet?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well a girl needs options!" We inched our way off of the plane. "Could these people move any slower? I swear you'd think that they were walking to their execution, not off a cramped plane!"

"You could always push them out of the way."

"Yeah because if I do that they totally won't think I hid a bomb or anything." The woman in front of us wrapped a protective arm around her child and took a nervous glance sideways. "Way to go Chris now they think I'm a terrorist!" I yelled thrusting a hand in the woman's direction. He rolled his eyes.

"Quit your bitching. At least you aren't spending your military leave with strangers."

"She said I could bring a guest!"

"Pretty sure she meant Marco."

"Yeah, well you're the best I could do on short notice."

"I feel so loved."

"Yeah, well you should."

We finally walked off the plane. I lead the way, maneuvering through the mass of people.

"Will you wait up?" Chris called after me. I turned around to see him struggling to weave in between clusters of people. I tapped my foot anxiously waiting for him to catch up; when he did I set off for the restrooms.

"I need to change." I informed him taking my luggage with me. I went to the handicap stall so I would have more room to change. I set my bags on the floor, unzipped the larger of the two and took out a floral sundress with a knit belt. I threw my sweatpants and tank top in the bag, flung on the dress, zipped my bag and ran out of the stall to the counter. There I touched up my makeup and put my frizzy hair in a side braid. "Looks good." I picked up my baggage then exited the restroom.

Outside I saw Chris had changed as well into a dark washed jean and form fitting Army shirt. We exchanged a head nod then started for the rental car place next to the airport

**Melissa's POV **

I felt like a mad women running around the kitchen barking out orders and I only have 8 people to feed. Lord only knows how Emily does this three times a day while raising two kids.

"Now remember people, she doesn't know about the uh-" I thought of how to word it "thing."

"The thing?" Jared asked laughing.

"Jared I have a knife and I'm not afraid to use it." I told him sternly which only caused his laugher to increase.

"It would do no good. Hello, I'm a _werewolf_. I heal quickly."

"Fine then. Kim has sex and she's not afraid to not use it!" That stopped his laughter. I turned to Kim who had a subtle blush on her cheeks.

"No need to worry Mel. We can't tell her." Sam said.

"Yeah but you guys are so used to talking freely here I don't want anything to slip like with Embry's mom."

"I understand and we will try extra hard not to slip with her here."

"Thanks Sam." I turned to Seth, "I'm going to go change real quick." He nodded his head as I left the room.

**Maria's POV**

"Recalculating." The Garmin said for the hundredth time since we left the airport.

"Shut up!" We both yelled at the same time.

"In point 4 miles turn left on Quileute Street."

"Quileute Street? Seriously?" Chris asked laughing.

"Be nice!" I scolded.

"Ok then, _mom_."

"In point 1 miles arriving at address on right."

"Thank God." He pulled the car into the driveway and turned off the engine.

**Melissa's POV**

After changing into a floral skirt and blue shirt I raced down the stairs.

"How do I look?" I asked.

"Beautiful." Seth replied looking star stuck.

"Anyone but Seth."

"Gorgeous." Emily and Kim said at the same time.

"They're here." Jared said using an eerie voice.

"Jesus, Jared. You sound like the fucking _Poltergeist _or something." Seth said.

"Language!" I scolded.

Ding. _Dong._

I hurried to the door, excited to see my former Sorority Sister. My heart was racing. Besides Seth, her approval means the most to me. She had saved me from making bad decisions back in college and when Seth and I had taken a break when he told me he was a werewolf she was the one who talked me into getting back together with him. She knows when I'm sad or mad even before Seth does. She's like a sister to me.

I glance at the mirror in the foyer and smoothed down a few fly away hairs. Taking a deep breath I flung open the door.

"MELISSA!" She screamed, attacking me in a hug.

"MARIA!" I yelled back at an equally ear-piercing level, throwing my arms around hers.

"Good God. Could you two be any more annoying?" a semi-familiar voice said. I peered around Maria to see a face I wasn't expecting.

"Chris?" I asked. I had only seen him once before and that was two years ago.

"The one and only."

"Actually there are-" Maria started but was cut off by Chris.

"Shut up. You know what I mean."

"Well come on in! You two must be exhausted!" I ushered them into the house.

**Maria's POV**

I glared daggers into the back of Chris' head as we followed Melissa through her house. She stopped in front of three very tall men and two normal-sized females.

"This is Seth-who you already know- . and Jared, Kim, Sam and Emily." She pointed to each one as she said their name.

I shook their hands, "Nice to meet you."

"So you must be Maria-" the girl-Kim I think it was- said with a small smile, "and you must be Marco." She glanced in my brother's direction. Chris found that hilarious, erupting in laughter almost loud enough to shake the house. The Kim-girl looked confused.

"That's my brother Cristiano. Marco couldn't make it."

"Oh that's too bad." I nodded my head. "Was he sick?" Melissa asked. I shook my head.

"No. He's on a uh-vacation. Yeah, a vacation." Chris laughed even louder.

"A vacation? Ha! I don't really think prison is a 'vacation'." He put air quotes around 'vacation'.

"CHRIS! You promised you wouldn't bring that up!" I screamed.

"No. I promised I wouldn't say _why _he was in prison. I never promised that I wouldn't say that he was in prison." I turned to Melissa who pursed her lips. _Great. _I thought, _The one person's who's opinion matters most to me is disappointed. Fan-freaking-tastic!_

"He hasn't been convicted yet." I defended.

"They have so much evidence that not even a deal with the Devil could set him free."

"Shut up Cristiano!"

"Okay then Mariana!" I narrowed my eyes, which he gladly returned with a glare of his own.

"It's okay." Melissa said, successfully ending our argument like the last time she met Chris. She gave me a We'll-Talk-Later look. "The food's going to get cold." Her friends trailing behind her to the dining room. When Chris went to follow them I yanked his arm back.

"What?" he asked confused. I waited until they had all left before I slapped his arm. "OW! What the hell was that for?" he whined.

"What the hell do you think? Look, I know that you don't want to be here right now but you don't have to act like a fucking five year old about it! I mean seriously! Come on. You know what I meant when I made you promise."

"Yeah, well I wasn't the one who decided to date a drug dealer."

"I didn't know he dealt!"

"That doesn't fucking matter Mare."

"Can you just please put on a fake smile and try to act civilized? Because if you don't I will tell Sally that you cheated on her." The fact that he cheat on his fiancée was the only thing I could hold over his head to convince him to come with me.

"Fine!"

"Thank you." I walked into the other room where people were already seated, a reluctant Chris following. The air felt tense, reminding me of junior high when someone would walk in the room right after my friends and I were talking about them. _Well this is going to be a long evening. _

**A/N: this is my first fanfic so please be gentle. Anything I can improve on? Just let me know:) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: SM owns everything you recognize. I only own my OCs.**

**Maria's POV**

Silence.

_Clink. Clink._

Silence.

_Slurp._

Silence.

_Cough._

Silence.

It was a deafening silence. Only an occasional clink of a fork against a plate to disrupt it. The men were all shoveling food into their mouths. The girls chewed pieces small enough for a child. Watching the men-Chris included- made me want to vomit. I turned to look at the girls who ate with such poise I was stricken with envy. Glancing down I saw that I had barely made an impact in my helping of lasagna.

_Clink. Clink._

Silence.

I couldn't stand the silence. I was starting to feel claustrophobic. It was suffocating, wrapping its inanimate hands around my neck, slowly squeezing. I had to break its hold. Sever the cord. Get out.

It didn't take a genius to realize that nobody was going to be talking soon. I looked at Melissa screaming _Help!_ telepathically. Nothing. She only looked up from her plate to stare at Seth. Sweet but not helpful.

No one's going to crack. Note to self: never play the silent game with Melissa's friends. I guess if I want something done I'm going to have to do it myself.

"So…" Everyone's eyes snapped into my direction, I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks.

Small talk isn't my forte, and it's a hell of a lot harder to do with 14 eyes staring in my direction. My first impulse was to ask about the weather, but that's about as cliché as it gets. Maybe if don't say anything they will all think that they imagined it. _Because 7 people often times imagine hearing the same thing at the same time._

"I need my inhaler." I finally blurted. Chris tossed me the rental keys. I quickly stood, knocking my chair over in the process. Nobody said a word as I rushed out of the dining room.

When I opened the front door my nostrils where assaulted with the smell of the ocean. A cool breeze blew my dress around, causing goosebumps on my arms. I shut the front door and walked briskly to the car.

I went for my purse sitting on the front seat, digging around for the pack of_ Marlboro_ and lighter. Earlier I had made Chris stop at a gas station since the TSA had confiscated my lighter back in Hawaii. After lighting my cigarette I threw the rest of the pack in the car and shut the door.

Inhaling deeply I closed my eyes and leaned against the car. I tilted my head back and blew a smoke ring, laughing at the calming effect. After a few more drags I started to cough, like always. It's an awful thing, having asthma and being addicted to cigarettes. When the coughing subsided I proceeded to inhale the deadly sticks.

"You know smoking is bad for you. Right?" I opened my eyes to see a tan girl, thirteen or fourteen, frowning at me.

I shook my head, "Must've missed the Surgeon General's Warning."

The young girl sighed, giving me a disapproving look. "You know my grandfather died from lung cancer." I took another drag.

"No I didn't know." I said, my hand with the cigarette rested near my side.

"Well he did." She said matter-of-factly. I let the cigarette slip from between my fingers, like a torpedo headed towards Earth. I raised my foot, smashing the cigarette beneath my shoe. I removed my shoe from the smushed mess, satisfied that it was no longer lite, I raised my head. The girl had a smug smile on her face as though her story was the reason I put my cig out, not the fact that it was freezing out.

"My grandfather would be honored to know that he helped someone quit." I was right. I didn't want to hurt her feeling by telling her that I didn't quit, I had just finished my cigarette. She looked at me expectantly waiting for a reply. Instead of giving her a verbal response, I nodded my head ever so slightly. This seemed to work for her because she jumped onto her first of a series of nosy questions.

"So where are you from?" Did she mean where did I grow up? Where do I live now? Where was I born? Or the literal,' from my mother's vagina' answer? "Like, where were you born?" she clarified.

"Oh, uh. Ohio, I think?"

"What do you mean 'you think'?"

"I moved around a lot." She seemed pleased enough with my answer, nodding she minded me of a bobble-head.

"So you're Irish?"

"Italian."

"But you're a ginger!" I knit my brows together. "Ohmigod!" she exclaimed. "You are color blind!"

"Huh? No. I'm not color blind! I know I have red hair."

"Then are you stu-pid?" Jeez. This girl's mouth has no filter.

"Pardon?"

"Are. You. Stu-pid?" She asked drawing out 'stupid'.

"No, I'm not stu-pid."

"Well you must be if you think you are Italian." I rolled my eyes.

"I lived in Italy until I turned 11."

"So your ginger parents moved you there?" Damn, this girl is nosy.

"No."

"So you were sent to a boarding school."

"No."

"To live with an aunt."

"No."

"A family friend."

"No."

"Parents divorced?"

"No."

"Adopted?"

"Bingo."

"Mom was a model."

"No."

"Dad was a model?"

"No."

"Dad got a ne- wait! You were _adopted_?" The girl had been so into interrogating me she hadn't realized that she had already gotten her answer. Note to self: never hire this girl as a cop.

"Yeah. It's not that big of a deal." She was acting like I just told her I was born with 11 toes.

"Not that big of a deal! Are you _crazy_? It's a _huge_ deal!" She stretched her arms out to emphasize 'huge'.

"No. It's really not."

"You act like you don't want to talk about it." Bingo. This girl is smarter then she looks.

"Yeah, well my friend is probably getting worried; I've been out here awhile."

"So you're friends with Melissa?" Nosy. Nosy. Nosy. _She's just a little girl._ I reminded myself.

"Yeah. You know her?"

Nodding, "Yes, she's my aunt."

"That's cool." She nodded once more. "Well, I'm going to go inside now. Uh…bye?"

"Okay. Bye!" She waved her hand, then started to trek down the drive way. Her head hung low as she kicked a rock in front of her.

"Are you okay?" The words flew out of my mouth before I could even stop them. She turned around to face me at lightning speed.

"Well, now that you've asked-" I was really starting to regret my question. "-well, that's really a nosy question. Don't you think?" My jaw dropped. She thought that _my _question was nosy? And what, hers were 'just-getting-to-know-you' questions?

She gave a slight laugh and shook her head. She turned around a starting her walk again, kicking a different rock than before. She called over her shoulder "Bye!"

I watched her walk and kick that rock until she turned a corner, disappearing from sight. It was now my turn to shake my head. Taking a final deep breath of cool air, I headed back inside.

"Feeling better?" Melissa asked me when I entered the dining room.

Nodding, "Yeah. I can breathe now."

"That's good." She gave a soft smile, "I had to threaten the boys to keep them from eating your food. I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

"Really." I sat back down and began to eat my food again. I could feel eyes burning my skin, I glanced up and saw once again, 7 pairs of eyes staring back at me.

"You know it's really hard to eat when everyone's staring."

"Sorry Maria." Seth chuckled.

Their eyes still stared.

_Help!_ I screamed telepathically at Melissa again. This time she got the message.

"So, Chris, are you still in the military." Their eyes traveled to my brother.

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"What branch?" Asked the man who was sitting next to a woman with scars running down her face.

_Thank you._ Receiving the message again, Melissa nodded.

Eating after that was a much easier task. People were making small talk and I was luckily kept out of it. I was able to finish my food in no time at all. When I finished, Melissa announced that there would be dessert.

"Finally!" Seth and another guy cried.

"But first-" they groaned "-I need help clearing the table." I stood and began grabbing plates. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You stop right there missy!" I froze. "You are my guest and guest don't have to help."

I snorted. "Bullshit!"

"Pardon?" She asked putting her hands on her hips.

Seth started to mouth 'Don't do it! Stop!" Flailing his arms around, looking like he needed a straitjacket.

"Momma bear you don't scare me. I'm helping clear the table." She narrowed her eyes, to which I responded with a glare of my own.

"Fine!" She snapped. I grinned triumphantly.

"Thank you!" I said in a sing-song voice. Rolling her eyes, she too began picking up plates. Everyone ended up helping so clearing the table took a matter of seconds. Melissa then started to serve slices of cake which was even more delicious then the dinner, if possible. After even more small talk-that I once again avoided-we cleared the table again.

"Shit!" The guy-who's named I learned-Jared exclaimed.

"What?" Kim asked worriedly.

"I didn't realize what time it is. Brady's going to be pissed if I'm late again." Kim nodded understandingly.

"Thanks for dinner Mel. It was nice you meet you Chris-" he shook Chris' hand, then mine. "-you too Maria."

I smiled, "You too." He said a quick goodbye to his friends then exited the back door. "Didn't he park out front?" The remaining Quileutes looked caught off guard.

"It's a short cut." Melissa said.

"To his work." Seth added.

"So he works in the woods?" Worried glances were shared amongst them. "What is he a lumberjack or something?"

Kim giggled, "No."

"You sure?" she nodded her head. "Because if would explain why he's ripped."

She giggled again, "I'm sure."

"Well we should probably head out." Sam announced. "We told the sitter we'd be back by 10."

"Is it that late already?" I asked. He nodded. "Oh. Well it was nice to meet you."

"You too." The round of goodbyes and handshakes started up again. "Kim we can take you home if you'd like."

"Thanks, but I think I'll just drive Jared's truck home."

"Okay." We walked them to the door, had one more series of goodbyes.

Then they were gone.

Silence.

I followed Melissa into the Kitchen. Chris followed Seth into the living room.

Silence.

"If you want you can help with the dishes."

"Isn't that what dishwashers are for?"

"Ours is broken. We ordered one from _Lowe's_ and it should be here in two days." I nodded as she filled one side of the sink with soapy water. "I wash, you dry?" I smiled.

"Just like old times? " I reminisced the times when we would do the dishes back in our Sorority. Water fights, gossiping, all of it.

She chuckled handing me a plate to dry, "Just like old times."

"Good." I said setting down the now dry plate.

"So…" She started, handing me another plate. "Why is Marco is prison?"

**A/N: I wrote this chapter in only one POV so which type do you like better? One POV or multiple POVs a chapter? I just want to say thanks to my first reviewer ladyMiraculousNight and to suzie1107 the pictures of what some of the characters look like are on my profile. As far as ages go I was thinking something like:**

**Sam-28ish**

**Emily- 27ish**

**Leah- 26 or 27**

**Chris- 26 or 27 (I haven't decided yet)**

**Paul, Jared, Kim- 26**

**Jacob, Embry, Quil- 24 or 25**

**Seth, Colin, Brady- 23**

**Melissa- 22 almost 23**

**Maria- 22**

**I will post more ages of characters as the story progresses. Let me know what you think so far:) **


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